Famed fountain to burble on

Published 5:06 pm, Tuesday, August 27, 2013

Ruth Asawa's playful 40-year-old "Hyatt on Union Square Fountain" at the triangular plaza near Union Square. Plans now are to move the fountain only a few feet.

Ruth Asawa's playful 40-year-old "Hyatt on Union Square Fountain" at the triangular plaza near Union Square. Plans now are to move the fountain only a few feet.

Photo: Liz Hafalia, The Chronicle

Famed fountain to burble on

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What we said: Maybe computer giant Apple didn't know about the beloved Ruth Asawa fountain near Union Square when it proposed plopping a squat glass-and-steel box on the site to house its new downtown store.

The company knows now. Public outcry was instantaneous when word got out that it wanted to replace an old triangular building at Post and Stockton streets with a modernistic structure that pays no attention to the traditional architecture of the area.

And plans filed with the city seem to have no room for the 40-year-old bronze fountain. ...

Send this idea back to the drawing board.

- Editorial, June 4, 2013

What happened: After lovers of public art expressed outrage, Apple filed a new plan with San Francisco that would preserve the playful 40-year-old landmark. The building proposed for the corner of Union Square is still a 40-foot-high glass-and-steel cube, but Apple has made design concessions that reduce the impact on the historic site - and save the beloved fountain.

What's next: The submission still must go through full planning review, though no hearings have been scheduled yet.

{rdrsp}What you can do: Let Supervisor David Chiu, whose district includes Union Square, know what you think:

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